Laava - The Fire

యుగసంధి

విప్లవం రాలేదు
చివరకు తెలంగాణ కూడా రాలేదు
జీవితమంతా పోరాటమే
మెదడునిండా నిరంతర ఆరాటమే
నిద్రకనులు చెమ్మగిలుతున్నయ్
ఓటమి భయపెడుతున్నది
నిరాశ కృంగదీస్తున్నది
స్తబ్దత పరివ్యాప్తమవుతున్నది
మౌనం రాజ్యమేలుతున్నది
తేలుకుట్టిన దొంగలు దర్బారు కలుగుల్లో దూరిపోయారు
ఆశల ముహూర్తాలు అనంతంగా మారిపోతుంటాయి
శత్రువు విలనీ వెక్కిరిస్తున్నది
కలిసొచ్చే కాలంకోసం ఎన్నాళ్లుగానో ఎదురుచూపులు
ఎండమావి ఎప్పటికీ చేరువ కాదు
ఈ పరుగు ఎన్నాళ్లు?
ఈ నిరీక్షణ ఎన్నేళ్లు?
గుండెలు పగిలిపోతున్నయ్
ఉరితాళ్లు పేనుకుంటున్నయ్
ఎండోసల్ఫాన్ డబ్బాలు నేలంతా పరుచుకుంటున్నయ్
మనుషులు నిలువునా కాలిపోతున్నారు
అయినా
నేను ఎదురు చూస్తాను
తప్పకుండా ఎదురు చూస్తాను
ఓటమి భయపడే రోజుకోసం
స్తబ్దత భళ్లున బద్దలయ్యే తరుణంకోసం
నిరాశల సమాధులపై ఆశల జెండా ఎగురవేసే క్షణంకోసం
మౌనం ప్రళయకాల గర్జనగా మారే ముహూర్తంకోసం
శాంతి అశాంతిల మధ్య సరిహద్దులు ధ్వంసమయ్యే రోజుకోసం
కాలం అఖండమై స్తంభించిపోయే సమయం కోసం
స్వేచ్ఛా పవనాలకోసం
మృత్యువును జయించలేకపోతే
శత్రువునూ జయించలేం!
జీతే రహేంగే లడ్తే రహేంగే!
-శరశ్చంద్ర

Smaller States great, But Insecure Congress will not act

Prabhu Chawla

Last Updated : 09 Jul 2011 11:08:40 PM IST

Not taking a decision is also a decision. Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi seem to have taken a leaf out of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao’s book.

Manmohan is Rao’s precious gift to the Congress party and the nation, and the prime minister has mastered his mentor’s art of governance. Rao was famous for either delaying decisions or referring contentious issues to committees and commissions. Sonia may like to forget or ignore the Rao chapter in Congress history but the prime minister is taking full advantage of his former teacher’s legacy. One rule amended is: When in doubt, pout. Manmohan doesn’t believe in action, only belated reaction. From acting against A Raja to mishandling the Lokpal Bill, the premier has been forced by an invisible hand to take the call. He has successfully crossed many hurdles but not without getting his reputation muddied. While his Government grapples with rising inflation, a ferocious civil society and a furious judiciary, Manmohan and Sonia are again politically paralysed—this time by the Telangana crisis. Even as a large number of Andhra Congress leaders defy the High Command’s might, the duo is unwilling to bite the bullet, though willing to be hit by it.

For the economist in Manmohan, a smaller state makes economic sense. For the politician in Sonia, it is another opportunity to create yet another fiefdom. The Telangana agitation’s intensity makes it clear that it won’t subside in a hurry. It has multi-party support, and is spearheaded by students and opinion-makers. While political compulsions may be driving the sustained T-campaign, the arguments put forward make sense. Ever since Andhra Pradesh was formally created in 1956, the people of Telangana have been protesting against the forced merger. Even the first States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) headed by Justice Fazal Ali was opposed to idea of merging Telangana with Andhra Pradesh on economic grounds. In its report, the SRC very categorically stated: “After taking all these factors into consideration, we have come to the conclusions that it will be in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana, if for the present, the Telangana area is to constitute into a separate state, which may be known as the

Hyderabad State with provision for its unification with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961 if by a two-thirds majority the legislature of the residency Hyderabad State expresses itself in favour of such unification.”

The SRC’s advice was rejected by then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Andhra Pradesh’s powerful Congress leaders. Fifty-five years later, Nehru’s blunder has come home to roost at his granddaughter-in-law’s doorstep. The impression that only affluent coteries in Andhra Pradesh can hold the central leadership to ransom has gained ground in the state. Most of these own huge swathes of real estate and numerous business establishments in Hyderabad; they fear eviction if a new state is born. Andhra Pradesh was carved out on a linguistic basis. The fact that people speaking the same language are fighting for a separate state is a clear indication of the economic and administrative impulses behind the agitation.

The T-struggle underlines the growing clamour for smaller states. As India grows annually by over 8 per cent, the benefits are not being distributed equitably. Smaller states like Goa, Sikkim, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh have scored well in social sectors like health and education. Despite having a smaller share of the GDP, they have created more wealth than many of the bigger states. Both politically and administratively, it is easier to manage smaller states. The time has come to divide all big states into smaller ones. If the US, with less than one-third of India’s population, can have 50 states, why can’t India be divided into at least 40 smaller units? It will ensure better governance and facilitate regional leaders to become stakeholders in the development of their own areas.

Economic and political power is concentrated in the hands of a few who are now feeling insecure. For them, the creation of more states means the emergence of a new corporate and political leadership that could challenge the established order. More states are facing the demand for smaller states: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has sought the division of her state into three smaller units. A powerful mass movement is building up for the creation of Vidharabha in Maharashtra and a new hill state in West Bengal. It is tragic that even genuine demands for new states have been conceded only after violent political agitations. For example, the Punjabi-speaking state of Punjab was created in 1966 after years of protest. The NDA government saw historical reasons and created three new states—Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand—because prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee saw an opportunity for his party to gain power in smaller states. Until now, the Congress hasn’t been able to return to power in the above states.

The fear of the unknown has crippled the Congress High Command and the prime minister. They genuinely feel that new states will weaken the Congress and strengthen regional parties. They also anticipate the rise of new regional satraps who will not be dependent on the Congress High Command for survival. Those who favour smaller states argue that the Congress should grab the opportunity—it gives the party a chance to absorb new leaders in new states, which will eventually help the Congress to grow. However, the leadership prefers to rule only in Delhi, even if it means losing all other state capitals either to Congress rebels or its adversaries. Herein lies the reason for the current state of indecisiveness at the top.

*Article published in New Indian Express

Visit www.namasthetelangaana.com for latest updates and fast changing political scenario in Telangana.

Time for Telangana

It is time for the Congress to take the plunge and carve the state of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh. There are many reasons to do so, not least the fact that historically, state boundaries get drawn and redrawn many times. When it became a republic, India was composed of 14 states. Now, at 28, it has double the number. Many states like Andhra Pradesh itself, were carved out of bigger entities after linguistic or ethnic movements.

The three newest states, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, were created as recently as 2000. State boundaries are not carved in stone, but need to adjust to local needs and politics. The argument for Telangana is simple: the region's people want out and a new state of their own. Statehood might give the backward region a chance to run things better. Indeed, there is evidence to show that smaller states carved out of bigger ones tend to do better than their parent states: in 2008-09, the average person in Jharkhand was 50% better off than the average Bihari, the average Chhattisgarh resident was 54% better off than someone in Madhya Pradesh and income per head in Uttarakhand was 95% more than that in Uttar Pradesh. Why should we doubt that Telangana, home to much forest and mineral wealth, could take off on a similar trajectory after becoming a state?

Most of the reasons for the Congress' chicken-hearted dither over Telangana do not exist any more. Its powerful chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy , an opponent of the idea of Telangana, is no more. Son Jaganmohan is a rebel who has just beaten the Congress in recent bypolls. The main opposition party, the TDP , oscillates opportunistically between pro- and anti-Telangana postures.

The current administration headed by Kiran Reddy has no platform. Creating Telangana will win the Congress many hearts and votes in the region, and stem the losses in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra. It will also create the opportunity to create a new capital, with all the new spending and infrastructure that's required, away from Hyderabad. There is precious little to lose - and much to gain, from creating Telangana state. Get on with it.

-Economic Times Editorial, 1^st June 2011

చంద్రబా(బో)గోపాఖ్యానం

బాబు మారితే భవిష్యత్తు అయనదేనట!
-ఓ పత్రికాధిపతి మొదటి రోజు సందేశం
మారిన బాబు
-అదే పత్రికలో మూడోరోజు సందేశం
మహానాడు ముగిసే నాటికి పార్టీ శ్రేణులు ఉత్తేజం, ఉత్సాహాలతో తొణికిసలాడి పోయాయని ఆ పత్రిక పులకరించిపోయింది.
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కానీ
పత్రికలు రంగులు వేస్తే మేకవన్నెపులి
నిజమైన పులి అవుతుందా?
వందసార్లు చెప్పినా
అసత్యం సత్యమవుతుందా?
గొంతులో నుంచి వచ్చే గాండ్రింపులు
అవేశ ప్రకటనలవుతాయా?
ఫ్రస్ట్రేషన్ ఎమోషన్ అవుతుందా?
నటన జీవితమవుతుందా?
బాబు మారతాడా?
ఒక పార్టీకి ఒక జెండా, ఒక ఎజెండా
లేనప్పుడు ఆ జెండా ఉంటే ఏమి పోతే ఏమి?
మునుగుతున్న నావకు
యాంకర్ వేసినా ప్రయోజనం ఉండదు!
కుంగిపోతున్న సౌధాన్ని
జాకీలు పెట్టి నిలబెట్టడం అసాధ్యం!
పోతపోసిన దివాలాకోరుతనానికి
నిలువెత్తు నిదర్శనం బాబు
సీమాంధ్రుల వంచనాశిల్పానికి
విభజించు పాలించు నైజానికి
ప్రత్యక్షరూపం బాబు!
మాటమీద నిలబడని నాయకుడు
నాయకుడూ కాదు, అది పార్టీ కాదు!
తెలంగాణపై తన నిర్ణయం చెప్పడట
కానీ కేంద్రం నిర్ణయం తీసుకుంటే మాత్రం
అందరినీ మెప్పించేట్టు ఉండాలట!
ఒక ఎజెండాపై తన పార్టీలోనే అందరినీ
మెప్పించలేని అసమర్థ నాయకుడు
మెప్పించడం గురించి మాట్లాడుతున్నాడంటే
దానర్థం ఏమిటి?
‘తెలంగాణపై నిర్ణయం తీసుకుంటే’
వ్యతిరేకిస్తానని చెప్పడమే కాదా?
తెలంగాణ తెలుగుదేశం నాయకులారా?
మీ నాయకుని సందేశం ఇప్పటికయినా అర్థమవుతుందా?

-కట్టా శేఖర్‌రెడ్డి

The guise of Parakala Prabhakar

In the disguise of praise you are tried to passed on some blatant lies.

1. Telangana political communication successfully convinced that an unreal thing a real one. You are blind folded by your belongingness. Andhra pradesh government itself accepted that the injustice is done to Telangana and has to be rectified. You take GO 34 issued in 1969. You can also see the fate of 610 GO. Regarding water you tell me how much water allocated to Mahaboobnagar, what they are getting since 1975's Bachavat Award.

2. Regarding development you talk of voluminous data. What data it is sir? Who prepared? Dont you know that this is prepared by the stauquoist establishment? Why that data only? Central government planning commission's task force declared that 13 out of 23 districts are backward, of them 9 are from Telangana. Dont you know your percapita based voluminous data is bogus and make belief development?

3. You have mentioned that Telugu people are under one roof for centuries. Again a big lie. I will challenge you on this point. 'Except' 300 years Telugu people are never under one dominion. In that 300 years also there are more than 100 samantha rajyas, which have no resemblance. Even in Kaktiyas time uttarandhra is not with us. Some parts of Rayalaseema is not with us. Even in Asafjahi's time there are dozens of nawabs and jagirdars who ruled separately and paid taxes to the king. Why sir. People like you are also not giving a rational thought?

Sweet coated poison will not work sir. you have to woke up now. If you have any belief in democratic processes you have to support the Telangana cause. You know what happened in the last Ten years and what happened on Dec 8,9,10th and that after. If you ignore the complete recent history and just talk of Political communication, we can understand what you are and your soul is.

(It is a response to Parakala Prabhakar's piece in FB-In praise of Telangana Movement?)